Update:master weapons
Hardcoded master weapons are being withdrawn, and instead we are going to replace them with a more flexible and rp-centric system which allows Masters to "retool" weapons to descriptions of their choice. The upside for this is that qp cost for master weapons are eliminated, as are master weapon loss over crashes; you'll be able to rent with them, and you won't need to talk to an imm about changing the base item for you should you decide to go spears rather than swords. The bonusses are different, but they are on you because of your master flag, not on the item; this has greater permanence and also provides more flexibility with the new master commands. In its essense, the new procedure is as follows: ''A master obtains a weapon (for example a sai), gives it to the master blacksmith, waits until he has indicated that he is ready, then says, exactly: please forge sai into an amethyst handled dagger". '' The forger will then change the object's description and hand it back to you at no cost. When you wield the weapon, onlookers will see: *wielded: an amethyst handled dagger So, just to recap. The command is "Please forge NAME into", followed by the description that you would like others to see. This must be 8 words maximum, and sadly cannot contain any punctuation such as "- & ' ,", nor can it be capitalised. This description will cease to exist after a reboot or after you rent, so whilst there maybe an small increase in the number of unusual items due to pk deaths, this should not become a problem. This change to masterweapons also introduces the new master bonus, namely a new command "change posture", which allows masters to choose their slots on the fly rather than needing the item to be set. This can be done at any time, the choices being change posture normal/offensive/defensive. You have this master bonus on any and every weapon that you wield. Choosing the base item is up to you, and it can be anything allowed by the forger. However, a few items such as heron-marked blades and uniques will not be able to be retooled (ie the description changed), these being at the staff's discretion, but the bearer will still retain the master bonus. Allowing Masters to retool their weapons is essentially an exercise in trust, and we may very well expand retooling out to other items or clanlevels depending on how responsible (or not!) players prove themselves to be. Certain rules ABSOLUTELY must be followed, to prevent profanity and to maintain accuracy: *Description MUST be same weapon type. :*A spear may not be retooled as a sword. *Description MUST be weapon. :*A club may not be retooled as a spoon. *Description MUST at least differ slightly from all 'normal' base items. :*Stilettoes may not be retooled as a Sai. *Description MUST have no profanity. :*Aherm, Slaydak's big ***** of doom. No. *Description MUST be wottish. :*"a lightsabre" is unacceptable. *This is a MASTER-ONLY feature. :*Do not do this unless you are a master. :*Do not do this for others. :*Do not give away retooled items. :*Do not make retooled items for mobs. *Use = acceptance. :*By using the retooling feature, you accept the penalties listed below for misuse. *Misuse: loss of master flag and ALL qps. :*If you are not responsible enough to be a Master, you won't be one. Please use the codex at https://web.archive.org/web/20140402202517/http://...wotmud.org/oldwww/public/codex.html to source likely descriptions. It has recently been updated and it is the largest reference of wheel-of-time objects in existence anywhere, compiled by players of and specifically for this mud. Now that this change has been rolled out, masters should no longer attempt to issue their master weapons. Until the code has been removed by your watcher, you can still do the command, but the mob will be unable to load you the item while still taking the qps. Instead, go to your clan imm or a visible 103+ imm, who will give you, should you wish, an optional reprac and a one-time gift of a weapon of your choice. The latter would be a weapon that master weapons could have been based on, so not a unique or a heron :). Please note, this is a significant change and we will be observing its impact closely. It may very well be that we'll need to tweak the exact bonus, so the numbers are not set in stone as of yet.